Thursday, January 17, 2008

More than 30 Years Later, It Still Hurts

The Boston Globe ran a feature article Wednesday about the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers, specifically that team's loss to the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Championship game, and we immediately began having flashbacks.

The article discusses just how decimated by injuries the Steelers were that day (Franco Harris out, Rocky Bleier out, Frenchy Fuqua out, Roy Gerala out) and we can remember watching that day . . . Franco and Rocky in their crisp, clean uniforms . . . in the fourth quarter . . . on the sideline. The Steelers had won the previous two Super Bowls, and to say that expectations were high -- and that the team seemed poised to meet, or exceed, them -- would be an understatement.

While te connection to this weekend's games (i.e. the Chargers are facing injuries and are not, and should not, complain about those) is tenuous at best, but for fans of the Black & Gold it makes for interesting reading.